Sainz 1:29.921 Perez 1:30.684 Hamilton 1:31.066 Norris 1:31.256 ricciard 1:31.361 (soft) not so good. All mediums but no idea on fuel loads or engine settings.
From what I’ve watched today, McLaren, Ferrari, Aston Martin look like they have very decent cars out of the box. Along with Mercedes, who showed a glimpse of speed in amongst some inconsistent balance, they are all comfortably clear IMO of Toro Rosso, Alpine and then the remainder. No major surprises, it’s just a case of in what order those 4 teams are in, presumably just behind Max Verstappen. McLaren looks nicely balanced and that bodes very well if - as they have hinted- they have a similar development curve performance pipeline coming. Aston certainly showing no signs of the mid season setbacks last year - Dan Fallows and the team seemingly have had a very good winter. (One of you on here know Dan don’t you- any inside scoop as to how they are feeling at Aston?? I suspect quiet confidence) I know everyone likes to tease Ferrari and suggest it’s all glory testing (me included!)- BUT Charles Le Clerc looks very, very calm this year- all reports are saying their driveability has improved and that all things are correlating- I think they’ve turned a corner. They were fast two years ago in testing and came out head to head with Red Bull until the FIA changed the ride height rules. They’re quick out of the blocks this year and the car looks like it’s designed out it’s kinks from last years - I wonder if they’re gonna be very handy? After all, they were very quick over a lap last year even with all their issues. Question will be can they develop it onwards when McLaren and Merc begin to ramp up?
The first race will tell. Ferrari have a very long history of playing games in testing to look good for the fans. Thats why I'm skeptical. In the end there were few issues for anyone really so they all got lots of laps in. 1:28.5 type pole still seems on IMO so we will see. It was crystal clear that the cars 2 years ago were set up terrible to bounce like mad whereas red bull nailed the concept and are still in front of ferrari. Anyone can slam the car to the floor and go fast until a few bumps cause them grief. I said before the test started that the engines were all close and with convergence of concepts that the top end of the car package is really all about drag. The cars fastest through corners will be so because the are stable. the cars fastest down the straights will be so because they have least drag. the cars that chew up tyres will be nowhere by the end of races. Ultimate speed will come down to who has the least drag package not engines IMO. Only time will tell now who's fastest overall but verstappen hasn't even got going yet. Until we see pole race one its anyones guess. I can't see Perez being competitive without a car with a full second in its pocket. I think he's just the poor relation here. Its only one track with only a few issues of tail winds etc and the window on the merc looks narrow. lets see how they fare but i have a feeling more of the same whinging will go on on a Friday/Saturday about being nowhere. I've not feeling off today on the ferrari but it looked unstable for leclerc anyway. Fingers crossed for norris.
Apparently the Merc front wing is perfectly legal but may be against the ‘spirit’ of the rules. There’s no such thing. It’s either legal or illegal.
To be fair, there has been many things over the years that dance the line between legal and illegal. If it's a clear loophole then they may close that hole and it become illegal down the line. Guess we'll see.
I always worry about Ferrari on race day.They are very good at shooting themselves in the foot even if they manage to get on pole in quali. Wrong tyres at the wrong time and pitting too early or too late. We`ve all seen it so many times. Anyway,I have heard that they have a new strategist,so I`m thinking he/she might be a bit better, can`t be any worse.
another drain cover has severely limited running this morning. Bit of a joke. in the olden days they'd go up to the maintenance depot and grab some cones and just tell them to keep the **** off and go run.
With Lewis in the team for next year will he be allowed to overrule the strategists due to his previous achievements. Charles and Carlos have won some races and Charles is regarded as the more talented of the 2, but they have no achievements in comparison to Lewis. Lewis coming might be the shakeup Ferrari need in taking their drivers opinion more seriously.
So hope he can take Bonno with him but that's not looking likely at the moment as there's a contractual clause not allowing him to poach staff. Would (hopefully) bring some sort of sanity to things though.
please log in to view this image The italian red bull has done ok, fastest time on softs. I'm unimpressed by perez sessions. He's not really shown a lot. he was on medium today though. hopefully shortly someone will open the taps.
verstappen already on track and just ramping up on mediums 1:32.699 on first effort. give it 10mins folks.
interesting point made on the sector times on sky: Sector 1 and 3 are straights and a couple corners. Redbull and everyone else are similar. No bog straight line advantage anywhere. Red bull right now have 0.5 seconds in the middle sector form 4 to 3 which is very long sector of corners.
